New Aircrew Training Facility to Be Built in Pápa

Boeing C-17 Globemaster

The foundation stone of the new C-17 Aircrew Training System (Simulator) building of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) was laid at the Hungarian Defense Forces’ 47th Air Base in Pápa (western Hungary) on January 11. This part of the building will house the offices and workshops for the C-17 simulator operations staff, as well as classrooms and briefing rooms for aircrew training.

The “first digging” of this major investment was symbolically performed by Gregory Clark on behalf of the contractor, NATO Support and Procurement Agency, NATO Airlift Management Program Office, and Imre Etl on behalf of the construction company STRABAG, honvedelem.hu reports. The central element of the new building, covering an area of around 1,438 square meters, is a 14-meter-high simulator bay, to which a ground floor section is attached.

The development will be built on the site of a former fighter aircraft hangar.

In addition to the construction of the simulator technology, the construction company’s staff will also provide all the mechanical engineering, power and low voltage, roads, parking, pavements, and landscaping around the building.

The training unit will be topped by a high performance solar panel system which, together with a heat pump heating and cooling system, will provide renewable energy to support the environmentally friendly operation of the building. Electric car charging stations will also be installed in the car park around the building.

The design of the building started in 2022, while construction is expected to be completed in March 2025, after which the C-17 simulator equipment will be installed.

The wide range of flight tasks required for military airlift operations are expected to be exercised by Heavy Airlift Wing (HAW) personnel from September 2025.

Via honvedelem.hu, Featured image: Pixabay